Homemade African Pepper Sauce enjoys the flavors of habanero, garlic, onion, basil, and other spices. This versatile sauce makes a great condiment, dip, and appetizer component.
In West Africa, pepper sauce is an essential partner for puff-puff, grilled meat, fish, and eggs. Actually, it’s splendid with any food. Something about pepper sauce takes a dish from bland and boring to flavorful and enjoyable. As you might have guessed, pepper sauce is delightfully hot because of the spicy blend of hot peppers.
Although ingredients vary from one cook to another, one thing is constant—hot peppers. You can use so many kinds of pepper in this sauce: habanero, scotch bonnet, serrano, jalapenos, and more. My preferred chili pepper is my beloved scotch bonnet. However, habaneros are a good replacement if that’s what you have available. Fresh hot peppers are the biggest difference between hot sauce and African-style pepper sauce.
Content…How Hot to Make It |
How Hot to Make African Pepper Sauce
The most authentic West African pepper sauce I’ve had the pleasure of trying contains a negligible amount of vinegar if any at all. The basic ingredients are pepper, salt, vegetable oil, and Maggi, ranging from mild to ferociously hot with a thick texture. I’m kinda of a wimp, so I’m somewhere in between.
In this sauce, I added extra tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, and parsley to create a versatile sauce that makes a fantastic condiment, dip, or appetizer component. Adjust the tomatoes to suit your taste buds and spice tolerance, or just omit them.
Ingredient List
- Hot peppers are a given. While I love scotch bonnets, you can use habaneros, Thai chili, red jalapenos, or any other hot pepper you love. Feel free to replace it with aji dulce and red bell pepper if you want a mild sauce.
- Seasonings – Onion, garlic, bouillon powder (Maggi is my go-to), basil, and parsley add intense flavor.
- Roma tomatoes bulk up your sauce without adding extra heat.
- Vegetable oil brings it all together and provides a smooth texture. Olive oil or sunflower oil also works well.
How to Make African Pepper Sauce
- Puree Veggies – Coarsely chop the tomatoes and onions, and discard the pepper stems. Then, puree the tomatoes, onions, garlic, pepper, parsley, basil, and bouillon powder in a food processor with as much oil as needed to make a thickish puree.
- Simmer – Pour the pepper mixture into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and slowly simmer for about 15 minutes—stirring frequently to prevent burning. Adjust seasonings for salt.
- Serve – Let it cool, pour it into a mason jar or a container with a lid, and store it in a fridge for up to a week. For your pepper sauce to last longer, fully cover it with oil.
Recipe Notes and Variations
- Lacto-fermented. With fermenting your own veggies becoming the rage, why not try it with pepper sauce? Replace the oil with brine from previously fermented veggies and store the puree in a glass jar on the countertop for 6-8 hours. Keep it in the fridge, and it should last 2-3 months.
- Make it milder by replacing some hot peppers with milder ones like red bell or sweet banana peppers.
- Another way to make pepper sauce is to boil the ingredients with a little water for about 15 minutes, then blend with oil and serve.
How to Use African Pepper Sauce
Ramp up your favorite stews and soups with a spoonful of this goodness. Jamaican stew peas, African chicken stew, Instant Pot beef stew, Ethiopian lentils, and fish stew all enjoy having this sauce in them.
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Watch How to Make It
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African Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 10 hot peppers (habaneros, scotch bonnet peppers, Thai chili, etc.)
- 1 medium onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons (20g) bouillon powder or Maggi
- 2 basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons (7-8g) parsley
- 1-3 Roma tomatoes, adjust the amount to taste
- ½-1 cup (118-236ml) vegetable oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Coarsely chop the tomatoes and onions, and discard the pepper stems. Then, puree the tomatoes, onions, garlic, pepper, parsley, basil, and bouillon powder in a food processor with as much oil as needed to make a thickish puree.
- Pour the pepper mixture into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and slowly simmer for about 15 minutes—stirring frequently to prevent burning. Adjust seasonings for salt.
- Let it cool, pour it into a mason jar or a container with a lid, and store it in a fridge for up to a week. For your pepper sauce to last longer, fully cover it with oil.
Tips & Notes:
- Make it milder by replacing some hot peppers with milder ones like red bell or sweet banana peppers.
- Another way to make pepper sauce is to boil the ingredients with a little water for about 15 minutes, then blend with oil and serve.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
John says
You list Maggi(Maggie?) as an ingredient, but when I went looking for it, I found that that is actually a brand name with several different types of sauces. Which one should I be using, specifically.
You also suggest bouillon as an alternative, but which type? Beef? Chicken? Vegetable?
Sorry, but I like to make new(to me) recipes exactly by the instructions the first time, and make my own changes, if any, in subsequent attempts.
Thanks!
JR
imma africanbites says
Hi, Maggi granules or cubes is an alternative to bouillon powder. Any type would work, but I usually use chicken.
MS100 says
For those who have access to it, I recommend using Better than Bouillon’s reduced sodium chicken. It’s also my secret ingredient for sauces and soups.
Imma says
Wonderful! Thank you so much for the information 🙂
Shanel says
Great sauce, left out the parsley and basil added a piece of ginger instead. Great flavour. Thanks for the recipe will definitely make it again
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! Thanks Shanel
Stephanie says
Can you can this for longer shelf stable storage or gift giving
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Stephanie! Sorry, I haven’t tried making this with a longer shelf life in mind. This Pepper sauce should be stored in the fridge and it lasts for a week.
PaidaA says
So delicious! Made this today and it came out well.
ImmaculateBites says
Awesome! So glad it worked out well for you 🙂 !
Katherine says
This was perfect and so convenient than the long process of the main method.
Tips: if you don’t have Maggie liquid, use soy sauce and add a pinch of Maggie to it. If you don’t have chicken stock you can use chicken broth from the store and add a pinch of Maggie
add Maggie and salt while combining everything (shrimp, liver, veggies, seasoning, and rice) for taste and if it’s still bland, add extra curry! If it’s still not quite there yet, then repeat the process of adding Maggie, salt and curry but don’t overdo the curry! Curry will deepen the flavors immensely. This tasted just like the one my mom makes without the extra hassle of cooking the rice during the process. I cooked over 6 cups probably 9 for my family of 4. Thank you so much. The pepper sauce is delicious. I used store bought basil and parsley in a container instead of fresh ones and it was still amazing
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Katherine! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this feedback 🙂 ! Glad it worked out well for you.
Anna says
Hi Imma, I made the pepper sauce and it was so delicious. The flavor goes with everything and it was easy to make.
I have tried many of your recipes and all of them were great. Thanks so much
ImmaculateBites says
Glad to hear Anna .Thanks .
Iyaniwura Omotolani says
This is a nice recipe, love it.
Fizza says
We don’t have Habenero peppers in our country. Can you recommend a substitute?
Toyin says
Hello! I am wondering why you blended oil and the bouillon with pepper. Can it be added while simmering or does it taste better if added that way. Just trying to know if there is a reason for doing it that way.
ImmaculateBites says
Hello Toyin. Usually, when using a blender, you would need to add some water to ease the blending process. But adding water to this recipe will lead to one having to cook the pepper sauce for a little longer and before you know it, you would have a coughing fit due to all hot fumes from the pepper sauce. Hence, it is better to use the oil when blending the other ingredients. Also, it is way easier to just throw everything into the blender and be over and done with ; ).
Ads says
I make loads of different styles of chilli sauce,I stumbled across this thanks to Google. Used Trinidad Scorpion chillies and rapeseed oil, was delicious shall definitely be making more like this. Thanks!
ImmaculateBites says
Great! Thanks so much for the feedback.
Sandra says
Loved it. I need a address for a recipe book or email.
Vernette says
This looks delicious! Any substitute for the peppers, something milder
ImmaculateBites says
Hello,
Cut back on the pepper. Put half or quarter of the required amount of pepper(depending on your heat tolerance) and add 1-2 more tomatoes. This will help .
malkit singh says
you can add yogourt,milk or cream to reduce the heat of chillis,but the sauce may not stay long. Fungi may develop. So try adding oil right up to the top
ImmaculateBites says
Agree. I usually add oil to fully cover the sauce .Thanks for the tip
Nawazish Awan says
African Pepper Sauce is delicious
bebe says
So insomnia cooking and saw this African Pepper Sauce. So easy to throw together and prepare. Delicious result. Can’t stop putting this on everything. Next time i won’t remove seeds from all the habaneros as i was anticipating too much heat. Not the case. Love this site and Imma’s recipes. Next up Puff Puff.
john c says
UM, Why do u callhabanero – Haberana (a couple of times in this recipe)?
Also, how do we contact you to buy a cookbook and see what else you are up to?
Maxine says
Sensational! I tasted this in church and wanted to find a recipe for a novice. This is just that. Simple clear and best of all delicious.
Blessing says
Pls Imma is there no way i can add pepper and onion to the puff before frying?
imma africanbites says
Hi, Blessing. You can, actually. We have some of our readers who say that their version of puff puff has peppers and onions ( the savory one). Just omit the sugar if you’re trying to go with the savory version.
Jessica says
I made this for my family and they thought it was AMAZING!!!!
ImmaculateBites says
Great! Thanks for the feedback.
Courts says
I don’t have parsley, can i sub with cilantro?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes. if you like the taste of cilantro . If not leave it out completely
Td says
Hi,
I’m in Australia and not 100% what bouillon is; is it just another name for stock powder?
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Td, Yes it is .